Shannon Boren
The Friendship Force of Los Angeles found a home for its World Friendship Day celebration at Pierce College on March 1, while thousands of others celebrated in their own countries around the world.
In an effort to promote world friendship, peace and understanding between cultures, the Friendship Force revamped the Campus Center to create a mecca of cultural food, music and international people for the community to meet and enjoy.
“It’s a great way to meet people from other countries,” said Nikita Kuznetsov, a senator for the Associated Students Organization and a member of the Friendship Force currently staying here from Russia.
“It’s a holiday to celebrate the diversity we have on campus and to celebrate our different backgrounds,” he added.
After entering the doors of the Campus Center, attendees, many of them U.S. natives, were greeted with friendly faces and name tags that displayed their nationality.
With name tags in place, they were then encouraged to make the rounds and enjoy all of the favorite foods from countries around the world.
Dishes ran the gamut from Russia to Wales to Indonesia to the Philippines and many more countries, creating a massive selection and an intensely-flavorful experience.
Not only were mouths pleased, but the ears were indulged as well with a delightful game of “Name That Country.”
Songs were played from around the world and the audience was given the opportunity to guess where the different tunes originated.
This was the first time that Pierce has served as host for the event and probably not the last because of the cultural experience it offers to students.
“This year we decided we wanted to get the international students involved,” said Carolee Lawrence, president of the Friendship Force of Los Angeles who is hosting Kuznetsov while he is in the United States.
Despite the relatively small turn out, having the event at Pierce appears to have done just that.
Friendship Force was founded in 1977 by Wayne Smith, former President Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn to promote world peace through more than 365 clubs in 60 countries whose members exchange family-to-family visits with others around the world.
“We are just the most wonderful organization,” said Marilyn Wolf, chairwoman of the event. “We believe that a world of friends is a world of peace.”
Many people visit other countries and come home with souvenirs, but some return with an understanding of the natives, their values, the lifestyles and the culture.
That is what the Friendship Force desires for its members.
According to Wolf, Smith’s theory was “that if strangers were to visit each other’s homes, put their feet under the kitchen table and learned their pet’s names, there would be less chance of war,” and that remains their hope to this day.
More important than the food and the music was the opportunity for students and community members to meet with each other to discuss and appreciate different cultures. The event allowed its participants to cross not only cultural boundaries, but religious and political ones as well.
More information about the Friendship Force of Los Angeles and World Friendship Day can be found at their Web site, www.friendshipforcelosangeles.com.